Monthly Archives: August 2013
9.Father and Sons
A certain man had several sons who were always quarreling with one another, and, try as he might, he could not get them to live together in harmony. So he determined to convince them of their folly by the following means. Bidding them fetch a bundle of sticks, he invited each in turn to break it across his knee. All tried and all failed. And then he undid the bundle, and handed them the sticks one by one, when they had no difficulty at all in breaking them.
“There, my boys,” said he, “united you will be more than a match for your enemies. But if you quarrel and separate, your weakness will put you at the mercy of those who attack you.”
# Union is strength.
8.Death and Cupid
Cupid, one sultry summer’s noon, tired with play and faint with heat, went into a cool grotto to repose himself. This happened to be the cave of Death. He threw himself carelessly down upon the floor, and his quiver turning upside down, all the arrows fell out and mingled with those of Death, which lay scattered about the place. When he awoke he gathered them up as well as he could; but they were so intermingled that although he knew the proper number to take, he could not rightly distinguish his own. Hence he took up some of the arrows which belonged to Death, and left some of his. This is the reason why that we now and then see the hearts of the old and decrepit transfixed with the bolts of Love; and with great grief and surprise sometimes sees youth and beauty smitten with the darts of Death.
# Death and Love strike unexpectedly.
7.Cut off your tails to save my face
A fox who had lost his tail in a trap was so ashamed of the disfigurement that he felt life was not worth living. So he decided to persuade all the other foxes to maim themselves in the same way; then, he thought, his own loss would not be so conspicuous. He collected them all and advised them to cut off their tails. A tail, he said, was merely a superfluous appendage, ugly to look at and heavy to carry. But one of the others answered: “Look here! You only give us this advice because it suits your own book.”
âť– This tale satirises those who offer advice to their neighbours not out of benevolence but from self-interest.
6.Brother and Sister
A certain man had two children, a boy and a girl; and the boy was as good-looking as the girl was plain. One day, as they were playing together in their mother’s chamber, they chanced upon a mirror and saw their own features for the first time. The boy saw what a handsome fellow he was, and began to boast to his sister about his good looks. She, on her part, was ready to cry with vexation when she was aware of her plainness, and took his remarks as an insult to herself. Running to her father, she told him of her brother’s conceit, and accused him of meddling with his mother’s things.
He laughed and kissed them both, and said, “My children, learn from now onwards to make a good use of the glass. You, my boy, strive to be as good as it shows you to be handsome; and you, my girl, resolve to make up for the plainness of your features by the sweetness of your disposition.”
